Dean turns down public campaign funding

Democratic presidential candidate Howard Dean today announced he will forego public financing for his campaign. By not accepting public financing — which is taxdollars Americans supply as a “check-off” on their income tax returns, Dean will escape the spending limits candidates who accept public money agree to abide by.Dean says the campaign finance system was a good system until George W. Bush bypassed it and started raising huge amounts of money. Dean says his goal is to raise 100 dollars from two million people to try to compete with Bush’s fundraising prowess. Dean’s opponents say he’s flip flopping on the issue because he has decided against accepting the campaign spending limits. During a news conference in Des Moines, Dean dismissed the accusations, and he predicted other candidates will do as he’s done to escape the spending limits and raise as much as they can.